Early on it looked like Patrick Mahomes wasn’t ready for the big stage.

Meanwhile, on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football, ” the 3-2 Patriots hosted second-year sensation Patrick Mahomes and the 5-0 Chiefs in a prime-time matchup so appealing it must have been the envy of every other NFL broadcast partner. Until Sunday, New England was 0-6 when allowing that many points in a game, including the playoffs, in the Belichick era.

Speaking on a conference call this week, Mahomes said he watched Brady a lot in college at Texas Tech. They have excellent skill players. But we made our fair share, too. This was the kind of shootout the National Football League loves to see in prime time, and it could be a scene we reprise in a few months. I think we had three stops down there.

“I feel like it’s coming really well”. The Chiefs punted once.

Oct 14, 2018; Foxborough, MA: New England Patriots running back James White is tackled by Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Anthony Hitchens during the fourth quarter at Gillette Stadium. The 41-year-old ran in for a 4-yard touchdown to give the Patriots a 37-33 lead with 5:32 remaining.

Hill caught three touchdown passes in the final two quarters of the game, and when it was all said and done, he had racked up 142 yards in the contest as well.

My setup had the Patriots game on YouTube TV on my television, the Red Sox game streaming on YouTube TV on my laptop, and a liter of Polar Seltzer (Pomegranate Cherry) and a bag of Red Hot Blues tortilla chips to pass for dinner. That was enough to win.

It was the first time this season that a Mahomes mistake really put the Chiefs in a bad spot against a tough opponent.

The Kansas City Chiefs are the flavor of the month in the AFC.

Chiefs are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games after accumulating more than 350 total yards in their previous game. And there are plenty of reasons to be concerned about their defense.

The Chiefs, though, proved much more successful in their next trip to Gillette – a 42-27 stunner in Week 1 previous year.

Chargers 38, Browns 14 • In Cleveland, Philip Rivers threw two touchdown passes to Tyrell Williams, and Melvin Gordon had three TD runs as the Chargers banged around rookie Baker Mayfield and the Browns. The deficiencies of the Kansas City defense kept the Chiefs from winning on a night when they had two 100-yard receivers, wideout Tyreek Hill and tailback Kareem Hunt, and an 80-yard rusher, Hunt.

Mahomes ended his night passing for 352 yards and four touchdowns, setting a Chiefs’ record for five straight 300-yard passing games. They keep scoring more, and Brady keeps saying, they can do better.

“We were making plays”, Brady said. He’s a great player. “You can take 12 points off the board from them, that is a win for us”. I don’t care if it’s 3-0 or 43-40.

With the Chiefs gaining the momentum the Patriots had to answer. They led 24-9 at the half, limiting the Chiefs to field goals instead of touchdowns. And, at least offensively, they seem to be finding a groove following a slow start that included lopsided losses to Jacksonville and Detroit. Mahomes was a bit off target with his first-half passing. Gostkowski connected on his fifth field goal of the game just two plays later, his third of the fourth quarter alone. Now, Mahomes is an MVP candidate.

Everything changed in the second half.

“Just being more composed”, Kelce said when asked what the difference was for Mahomes in the second half. They’re very well-coached, as they always are with Andy [Reid]. We didn’t take advantage of some great opportunities that we had, we got stopped four times in short yardage. Chris Hogan came down with a 42-yard bomb from Brady, a throw that sucked most of Gillette Stadium into breathless silence as the ball was in the air.